joannii

Thanks for all your replies. I will put the power one back up.

We don't know where we are looking but it will be the North Island, were ever a job takes us.

Yes we all do bulk cooking, add more veggies then meat etc etc So use to that kind of living.

I will have a look into the extras, I found that figure on a website that said that is the average for a couple per month. We are very frugal in that area, we don't buy many clothes and those we do are cheap not branded, we don't smoke, we cut our own hair etc etc But I will research this a bit more.

We did look at houses and rentals and that was the figure we came up with but I will take another closer look.

Isolation and distance isn't really a problem, the children are now 15 and 16(and will be 16 and 17 when we leave if it takes 12mths) and the OH only gets to see them once or twice a year, and that is with us living under an hour away.

Again with the CSA/Child Support it is arranged via the mother atm and not the government. But we have to take in consideration because it is her right that she can get them involved if she wants to. Saying that we have now decided to keep a savings fund in the UK which has enough cash in it for at least a year and if we can stretch it(eg. Use some money out of the house sale) till we don't have to pay it anymore, which is when they reach 18. So that won't be subject to conversion.

Thanks again for all your help, I will repost another budget later.

kenpom

Do you cut your own hair, or each others?

I've been here for 6 years now and I dotn want to sound like a damp squib but on 55K you are going to be short of cash, so if you dont have any reserves this will make live tricky. I reckon your energy bills will be way over 100pcm over the course of a year too. Food is our biggest bill by far but it is possible to economise a fair bit in this expense if you have the time and the will to do it. Good luck!!

joannii

Thanks, don't worry about putting us off, we need the honest truth!!

We think we may have our basic pay wrong I have put a thread here if anyone can help: http://britishexpats.com/forum/showt...92#post8392692

Ok new budget:

Household Insurance/Car Insurance:100
Energy: 300
Teaching Union: 17.05
Car – Petrol:200
Mortgage/Rent:1600
Food: 600
Internet/Phone: 130
Contact Lenses: 16
Bank: 5
Computer Game 20
Child Maintenance(2 Kids UK):736
Extras: 300

Equals: Minus $342
or
Plus $393 if we doing the Child Support savings idea.

Thanks again for the help and hopefully the wage will be higher!

j19fmm

The CSA have no authority in NZ, and if they did it would be worked out on your OH's NZ wage anyway so would probably not be as high as it was in the UK. I presume you'll want the kids to visit too so that will have to come in to the equation. I realise he'll want to pay something towards the kids back home but it's no good bankrupting yourselves over it hun.

TeamEmbo

Yep, would agree.

UK CSA have no jurisdiction in NZ and if your current CM was being paid via them they would no longer have authority to collect once you leave UK.

The amount of CM currently paid in UK pounds is on a UK salary so it would not be advisable to convert that monthly amount to NZ$ as a monthly payment for future payments but better to work out a new monthly payment once your NZ take home pay is known as that is only fair way to do it.

I believe it is only for non-paying non-resident parents that the ex can use the services of REMO (under the Hague convention) to claim CM through a NZ court and even then as the children in question are not resident themselves in NZ, the NZ CSA calculation cannot be used rather that both parties finances are looked at and a reasonable amount based on each parties needs and the needs of the children is worked out. CM is also only payable after 16 if the child remains living at home in full-time education, as far as I am aware.

IMHO I would keep paying whilst in the UK and once NZ wage is known re-negotiate based on future NZ income.

irish_eyes

I'm amazed that lots of you think the power bill should be so high! Last winter we bought all new low energy bulbs for our house and also bought a low energy wall radiator, which to be honest only really took the chill out of the room, its an open plan lounge/dining/kitchen so not an easy room to heat up but we never had a bill over $130 a month in winter and we have a 3 bedroom, 2 lounge plus a playroom home. The last 3 bills we have had have been $90/$96 and $97 and we use Mercury energy who offer a 10% discount if you pay before the due date. We use an electric blanket for our bedroom which is only left on for about 20 minutes and for the kids bedroom we use a bathroom heater which heats the room in about 5 minutes. Both our bathrooms have the heater in the light so that also takes the chill out of the room. I'm married to an electrician so I guess because of him we have worked out the cheapest way possible in every room to heat it.

In saying that our friends have a heater/cooler system and their bill was around $250, maybe a little more, a month so I guess you just need to shop around for the best heating system. They have the same amount of spotlights as us if not one or 2 more but they dont have low watt energy bulbs like us. Theirs look nicer as our ones are the energy ones but i'm not bothered as our bill is always half of theirs. There house is built into the side of a cliff which is always cold in winter as it gets very little winter sunlight where as our isnt and gets sunlight on all sides of the house so doesnt need as much heating.

Something else to remember is money for car service and WOF - we just forked out $1200 in Jan for our service as it needed a few things done - something we never took into account.

Its very wise what your doing - I never did any of this planning before I came so it was a shock for me when I had to start paying out so much for stuff.

Good luck

luvwelly

I think I've got the biggest power bills in the whole of NZ in my rental so I'm not even going to share the figure - but bear in mind that if you try to keep older uninsulated properties constantly warm it will be very expensive. You may also need to purchase dehumidifiers to remove moisture so it is cheaper to heat.

kiwi_child

The question is whether or not the UK government can have a CSA order made and enforced in NZ. They may well not be able to. Only in the last 10 years or so has one been active between the NZ and OZ govts. They may though be able to freeze any funds/assets held in UK or UK accounts and slam you with updated costs should you return to UK. Best to get some legal advice I think.

TeamEmbo

No, the UK Government can't. If you emigrate and stop paying CM the parent with care can apply to the local court and utilise the services of REMO under the Hague convention for an order to be made in the country of residence you have emigrated to. The CSA are not involved in any of this procedure. They have no jurisdiction outside of the UK.

If you emigrate but continue to pay maintenance the parent with care can't use REMO as they are only for non-payment, AFAIK.

maisiep

I definitely agree with other posters on the energy bill -in the winter ours was around $250 per month for about 3 months in a row. It does get cold and electric heaters aren't cheap.

Also, I think the internet/phone cost depends on what you are doing with your internet and phone. We have a broadband connection as I need it for work, but we hardly make any phone calls at all (I make all my calls through Skype especially to the UK, etc) and it still comes in around $140 per month.

Overall things are more expensive in NZ - I am often amazed at the price of things in the supermarket, plus things like furniture, electric goods, etc. I spent my first year here going "aaargh, wish I'd brought microwave/bookshelves/kettle/CD player/etc, etc" over with me as it would have saved us a ton of money. So pack everything you can!

But don't let that put you off. Just make sure you are being realistic about what you plan to live off, and with your planning it looks like you're already doing that.

Good luck with your plans!

kiwi_child

I'm not sure what REMO is exactly but unless NZ is a signatory to a convention relating to this, then it would be unenforceable (it took years of OZ-NZ govt squabbling to finally reach an agreement between themselves on this issue.) I suspect it's more applicable to EU and possibly US. I'd be more concerned with UK govt possibly being able to freeze domestic assets/accounts due to non-payment

cally49

Hi there we are with Telcom and have what is called a total home package which is $99 if in Auckland, Wellington or Christchurch and $109 if in other areas it Includes the line rental (just the rental is usually well over $40nz ) it also gives us free national calls (up to 2hrs each call) anytime of the day or night 10GB of broadband $4.50 for up to 2hrs for a UK phone call and other things as well http://www.telecom.co.nz/totalhome/detail
Cheers
Cally

BEVS

Goodness me. Where have you been?

lapsed kiwi

vote of support for this. You can also switch to unlimited data caps (with some bandwidth restriction at peak times) for $10 more. Combine this with skype and skypeout, means spending > $110 on phone+internet = muppetry

TeamEmbo

REMO = Reciprocal Enforcement of Maintenance Orders. NZ is a signatory to the Hague Convention 1973 as is Australia. It is not just applicable to EU and USA. Most countries worldwide signed up to the Convention. REMO are the organisation to which you would apply to get a court order for CM enforced in a reciprocal country or to apply to get the reciprocal country to make the order.